Tag Archives: veggies

Southwestern Salad with a Tabasco Lime Dressing

Southwestern Salad
This salad was created on a hot Phoenix day.  The temperature got up to 113 degrees and I was didn’t want to make my kitchen any warmer than it already was.   Here is a cold salad with a tangy dressing made of olive oil, lime juice and splash of Tabasco sauce. It’s great on the taste buds!

Salad Ingredients
1 cooked corn on the cob, cooled down (cold is best) and cut off of the cob
1/2 of a red bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 of a ripe avocado, cubed
1/2 cup of black beans
3 TBS of feta or cojita cheese
a handful of spinach, cut into strips

Dressing Ingredients
1 TBS extra virgin olive oliveTabasco Sauce
1 TBS  of fresh squeezed lime juice
2-3 splashes of Tabasco hot sauce
a click of sea salt

Serves 1-2 people.

Directions
1. Combine all the veggies in a bowl and stir lightly until it is mixed well.

2. Combine the ingredients for the dressing and stir well with a fork until fully combined. Pour over the veggies and stir.

This salad is best when eaten cold.

Carrot and Ginger Soup

Carrot and Ginger Soup with Garlic and Bok Choy
Carrot Soup

Ingredients
1 lb of carrots
1 TBS of canola oil
2 large potatoes
1/2 of a yellow onion, diced
4 garlic cloves
4 TBS of minced ginger
3 stalks of bok choy
1 Yellow hot pepper
2 bay leaves
green onions
2 cups of broth (chicken or vegetable)

Peel and carrots and potatoes. Cut the potatoes in to 2-3 inch pieces and cut the potatoes in half. Mince the ginger and three garlic cloves.

In a medium sauce pan, add four cups of water and add the carrots and potatoes. Cook until tender. Remove the carrots and potatoes from saucepan and add to a blender, along with 1/2 cup of the water.  Blend until you have a nice puree.

In the same sauce pan, add the canola oil. Once heated, add the onion, minced garlic and ginger, and sautee for 2 minutes. Remove from the pan and add to the puree  along with the last garlic cloves. Pulse in the blender for about 30 seconds. In same saucepan, cook the bok choy for 2-3 minutes, then remove from the pan. Pour half of the puree back into the sauce pan, add the broth. Keep on a medium heat.

With the remaining half of the puree in the blender, add the bok choy and pulse until blended. Then add it to the sauce pan. Add the hot yellow pepper into the sauce pan. Let simmer for 20-30 minutes.  Remove the hot pepper before serving.

Serve with green onions on top.
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This recipes serves 4.

Broccoli and Ginger Stir Fry with Chicken

Broccoli and Ginger Stir Fry with Chicken over Steamed Brown Rice

Ingredients
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 head of broccoli, cut into florets
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 TBS of fresh ginger, minced
1/4 cup white onion, chopped
1 TBS of canola oil
1/2 TBS of canola oil
1 cup of brown rice

Servings: 3-4 servings

Prep: Prepare rice according to instructions. I cook my rice in a rice cooker. Every rice cooker is different, and the cook time varies depending on how much rice you are cooking.  I usually wait for my rice to finish steaming, before I begin the stir fry and let the rice sit in the cooker on the warm setting.
Chop onion, cut broccoli, and mince the garlic and ginger.

1. In a large pan, over medium high heat, add 1 tablespoon of canola oil.  Add chicken, and cook until browned all over, 4-5 minutes. Remove chicken and set aside.

2. In the same pan, add the addition 1/2 tablespoon of the canola oil. Swirl it around the pan, letting it get warmed up. Add the garlic, onion and ginger and broccoli. Stir and let cook for 2-3 minutes, then add the chicken back in.  Stir around, letting it brown up a little bit all over, usually about 5-6 minutes.  Serve over steamed brown rice.
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This dish smells so good. It’s also perfect to take to work for lunch!

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Tuna Celery Cucumber Salad

This salad is light, fresh and crispy. I love having this for lunch or after a workout.  This recipe is not my own, I came across it or something very similar a while back, and I’ve been making it every since. I forget the source, so I truly apologize. Enjoy the salad.

Tuna Celery Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
1 English Cucumber
2-3 Celery Stalks 
1 can of white tuna, drained
3 TBS of Olive Oil
3 TBS of Rice Wine Vinegar
1 TBS of Sugar
Sesame Seeds
Pepper (optional)


Directions
1. In small bowl, add the olive oil, rice wine vinegar and sugar. Mix. Set a aide.

2. Chop up the celery, and slice the cucumber in half-moon shapes.  English cucumbers are okay to leave the skin/peel on.  Put them in a bowl. Drain the tuna and add to the bowl of celery and cucumbers.

3. Give the oil and vinegar mixture one last mix, and drizzle over the celery and cucumbers. Mix.  Serve and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Its ready to eat.

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My notes:
This salad doesn’t hold over the next day as much as I would like it to. If I make this for dinner, it’s fine to eat for lunch the next day, but definitely not any longer. It’s best when you have it right away.

Also – I love having this after a work out.
I would incorporate something else into the meal if this is your dinner.

Mandarin Chicken Over Brown Rice

Mandarin Chicken over Brown Rice

Ingredients
1.5 lbs of boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 red bell peppers
3/4 cup of sliced white onion
2 TBS of Sesame Oil
3 TBS of hoisoin sauce
2 cans of mandarin oranges in light syrup
1-2 cups of brown rice

Directions

1. Begin cooking the rice according to the instructions. Cook it stove top or in a rice cooker. Cut the chicken into 1 inches cubes, and cut up the bell peppers, onion and green onion.  Drain the mandarin oranges and put them to the side.

 2. Heat the pan to medium high heat and add the sesame oil. Stir the chicken into the pan. Season with salt n pepper, and stir. Cook for 4 minutes until browned.

3. Add half of the onions to the chicken in the pan. Stir. Add the hoisoin sauce. Stir. Add the mandarin oranges and stir it around.  Let cook for 3 minutes, then add the red bell pepper and the rest of the onion.  Stir it around and let it come to a boil. Lower heat to medium low and put a lid on it.  Let cook for 15-20 minutes.

Serve over brown rice and top with green onions.

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This recipe is also shared on Amee’s Savory Dish blog for Fit & Fabulous Fridays #20.  Visit her blog for additional healthy recipes

Spicy Penne Pasta

Spicy Pasta!

Ingredients
Penne pasta
Spicy Italian Sausage (2-3 links)
2TBS olive oil
1/3 cup red onion
1/3 cup sliced mushrooms
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1/3 cup diced tomatoes, fresh or canned
16 oz marinara sauce
Crushed Peppers!

Directions
Heat a sautee pan over medium heat.
Get water set to boil in sauce pan.

Brown the Italian sausages.  Cut up your veggies while these are browning. When the sausages are browned on each side remove from the pan and set to cool. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the same sautee pan. Move heat to medium high. After the oil has warmed add all the veggies to the sautee pan.   While the veggies are cooking, cut up your browned sausage.    Stir veggies in pan.

Check to see if water boiling in your sauce pan. If so, add your pasta and cook according to instructions. Some cook in 3 minutes and others cook in 8-10.  Water must be boiling before you add the pasta!

Stir the cut up sausage into the veggie mixture.  Change heat to medium. Add marinara sauce. Stir.  Sprinkle some crushed peppers to the mixture.

When the pasta is al dente, drain the water in a colander.  Once drained, add the pasta to the mixture little by little,  stirring around each time you add more pasta. Add more crushed peppers if you so please. (I did)  Let warm on medium low heat for 3-5 minutes and it’s ready to eat.

Butternut Squash Apple Soup and Garlic Herb Fries

This meal was born of out my desire to cook the darn butternut squash that had been sitting on my counter and to not make any trips to the store. So I just used what was in my refrigerator and pantry. It felt pretty good to make do with what I had.  Here goes the recipe.

Butternut Squash Apple Soup 
Ingredients
1 butternut squash
1 green apple
1 large potato
1/2 white onion, chopped
2-3 carrots
4 cups of water
1 vegetable bouillon cube
2 tablespoons of olive oil

Garlic Herb Fries
Ingredients
2 large potatoes
1 garlic clove, diced
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 bay leaf
2-3 twists of herb mix

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees

For the Soup: Peel the squash, remove the seeds and chop up into small cubes. Peel the green apple and take out the core. Peel all the potatoes. Chop up everything into small pieces. My squash was small, maybe about 1-2 lbs. Here are all the veggies for the soup minus the onions.
For the Fries: Heat a small pan with the 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the diced up garlic and, bay leaf and some Italian herb seasoning.  Let cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cut up the 2 potatoes into thin strips. Add to a quart size Ziploc bag. Remove from heat and let cool about 2 mins. Add the garlic and oil mixture to the Ziploc bag full of potatoes. Zip and shake it up. Move the fries to a baking dish.

For the Soup: Heat up a sauce pan or soup pot. Add the olive oil and let heat up. Add the onions and stir around, cooking them until they look translucent.

For the Fries: Put in the oven for 45-50 minutes.

Back to the Soup: Once the onions are translucent add the rest of the veggies.  Stir around let cook for 5-6 minutes. Add enough water so it gets to the top of the veggies. For me, it was 4 cups. Add the bouillon cube and stir. Let it get to a boil then bring down to a med-low heat. Let cook until you can easily put a fork through the butternut squash. About 25-30 mins.

Spoon half of your veggie mix into your blender, and blend up until it’s a nice and creamy puree. Blend and puree the second half. Add the soup mixture back to the pot and keep on a warm heat, until the fries are ready to come out of the oven.

Serve, eat and enjoy!
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Note: I added an apple to butternut squash soup because I read that the squash can be sweet and the tartness from the green apple help to balance out the flavors. I enjoyed it very much, and of course who doesn’t want more yummy goodness fiber in their food. ,

Recipe: Broccoli Soup

I never really cared for raw broccoli. I always pass it up on the veggie platters at parties. I prefer my broccoli steamed, stir fried or mashed up in soups like this. After a few experiments, here is my version my Broccoli Soup.  It tastes better than it looks! haha

Ingredients
4 cups of water
4 cups of broccoli florets
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 white onion, chopped
2-3 celery stalks, chopped
1/3 cup flour
2 chicken bouillon cubes
2.5 cups of milk
black pepper

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Directions
1. In a sauce pan, add the water and broccoli.  
Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let sit for 3 mins. Remove broccoli from water. (Set the broccoli water aside)

2. Run half of the broccoli in a food processor, and chop up the other half with a knife.

3. In a pot add olive oil. Heat. Add celery and onions. Cook for 3-4 mins. Stir in flour. Be sure to keep stirring so it doesn’t clump up. Add the broccoli water, bouillon cubes and all of the broccoli. Stir. Bring to boil then reduce heat.

4.  Add milk and some black pepper. Stir. Let cook on low-medium heat for 15-20 mins.

There goes your Broccoli Soup. Eat it as is, or get fancy with it.  You can add cheese, grilled chicken, eat it out of sourdough bread. Yum!

Spaghetti Squash

I’m going to show to you how to cook a spaghetti squash and a simple mushroom marinara sauce. When my friend introduced me to this squash and how to cook it I was inspired and surprised at how easy it was to cook. Usually I would I pass right by the squash bin at the grocery store because I didn’t know how to cook them.

Here’s a spaghetti squash.

When cooked the flesh of the squash easily shreds into thin threads or strings, hence the name spaghetti.  It’s a great alternative for spaghetti if you want to switch up your basic meals, or even if your looking to make an all veggie dish.

Spaghetti squash can be baked, boiled or microwaved. I’m going to bake the squash.

Things you will need are:
Cutting board
Knife
Spoon
Fork
Baking dish (11×17 cake pan works)
Water
a Squash

Set the oven to 350 degrees.
Here goes!

Cut the squash in half lengthwise.

Looks kind of like the inside of a pumpkin. Now to spoon out the guts and seeds.

Add some water to your baking pan. About 2 inches of water. Then lay the squash in the pan face down.
Bake for 20 minutes or until you can stick a fork into  the squash smoothly.
When it’s done, let it cool for a few minutes, then grab your fork to gently pull out your strands. Looks like this.
Eventually you will have this
 So that’s your spaghetti squash! Easy peasy baby. It’s ready to eat.

You can have it many ways; topped with a marinara,  an olive oil and pesto sauce, a garlic butter sauce, add veggies, etc. You have tons of options.

I used what I had around my kitchen for a topping. It’s mushroom marinara that I just kind of made up along the way as the squash was baking.

I threw about 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a sauce a pan. While that was warming up, I minced some garlic and chopped up some mushrooms. Threw those into the sauce pan to cook for a few minutes. Stir it up a bit.
 I added a jar of marinara spaghetti sauce.  Added some some oregano, Italian Seasoning….and some crushed peppers.
 Let it bubble just a tad bit, then lower to a simmer until the squash is done.

This meal is very versatile. You can have it as simple or as fancy as you want.  For me it was just right. The spice in the crushed peppers gave it a nice soft kick.
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Enjoy cooking spaghetti squash!  Please share your spaghetti squash ideas with me.